February’s Best Gear: New Wireless Headphones and Fancy PCs

BeatsX Wireless Headphones

The new $150 BeatsX are the cheapest of the company’s options. They’re wireless, but not like the AirPods or even the Solo3 or Powerbeats3. They’re what you might call neckbuds: a band around your neck, connected to two tiny earbuds. When you’re not wearing them, they dangle like a chunky rubber necklace. The upside is the buds themselves are light and simple and nearly impossible to lose. The downside is that these wireless headphones don’t feel all that wireless. Read the full review.

Credit: Beats

The new $150 BeatsX are the cheapest of the company’s options. They’re wireless, but not like the AirPods or even the Solo3 or Powerbeats3. They’re what you might call neckbuds: a band around your neck, connected to two tiny earbuds. When you’re not wearing them, they dangle like a chunky rubber necklace. The upside is the buds themselves are light and simple and nearly impossible to lose. The downside is that these wireless headphones don’t feel all that wireless. Read the full review.

Microsoft Surface Studio

Microsoft is competing against its decades-old reputation as the company that makes stuff you hate but need, next to Apple as the creator of lustworthy hardware that inspires cult-like devotion. That’s hard to reverse in one device, especially when that device costs three grand. But a funny thing kept happening in the weeks we spent with a Surface Studio, Microsoft’s love letter to creative types: We learned to love it. The Surface Studio is a complicated, complex spin on a desktop computer. It’s not perfect, and it’s probably not for you. It’s not for us, either. We love it anyway. Read the full review.

Credit: MARIA LOKKE/WIRED

Microsoft is competing against its decades-old reputation as the company that makes stuff you hate but need, next to Apple as the creator of lustworthy hardware that inspires cult-like devotion. That’s hard to reverse in one device, especially when that device costs three grand. But a funny thing kept happening in the weeks we spent with a Surface Studio, Microsoft’s love letter to creative types: We learned to love it. The Surface Studio is a complicated, complex spin on a desktop computer. It’s not perfect, and it’s probably not for you. It’s not for us, either. We love it anyway. Read the full review.

Here One

Life’s a little quieter when you’re wearing the Here Ones, a new pair of earbuds from Doppler Labs. These $300 buds are headphones and then some. They put a volume knob on the real world, letting you control what you hear and what you tune out. The Here Ones are a terrific, if slightly hamstrung, set of headphones. They’re also pretty solid evidence that you might want computers in your ears. Soon. Read the full review.

Credit: Hear One

Life’s a little quieter when you’re wearing the Here Ones, a new pair of earbuds from Doppler Labs. These $300 buds are headphones and then some. They put a volume knob on the real world, letting you control what you hear and what you tune out. The Here Ones are a terrific, if slightly hamstrung, set of headphones. They’re also pretty solid evidence that you might want computers in your ears. Soon. Read the full review.

Gita by Piaggio Fast Forward

TheGita is a round rolling robot that can carry up to 40 pounds of cargo for miles at a time. Rather than get you from A to B as fast as possible, it’s meant to get you there more easily. More than that, Gita is a way to begin to explore what the world looks like when humans and robots share the sidewalk. And, hopefully, to make that idea seem a little less scary. Read the full story.

Credit: INGO MECKMANN/PIAGGIO FAST FORWARD

TheGita is a round rolling robot that can carry up to 40 pounds of cargo for miles at a time. Rather than get you from A to B as fast as possible, it’s meant to get you there more easily. More than that, Gita is a way to begin to explore what the world looks like when humans and robots share the sidewalk. And, hopefully, to make that idea seem a little less scary. Read the full story.

Caavo

What you need is a Rosetta stone for TV. Caavo says it has one. Caavo and rhymes with Cabo, your favorite spring break locale. It sports eight HDMI ports, and its software automatically recognizes and configures virtually any device you plug in. You can use the lovely wooden Caavo controller to control almost anything: the robust universal remote features a touchscreen and multi-functional buttons. Caavo works with Alexa, too. Read the full story.

Credit: Caavo

What you need is a Rosetta stone for TV. Caavo says it has one. Caavo and rhymes with Cabo, your favorite spring break locale. It sports eight HDMI ports, and its software automatically recognizes and configures virtually any device you plug in. You can use the lovely wooden Caavo controller to control almost anything: the robust universal remote features a touchscreen and multi-functional buttons. Caavo works with Alexa, too. Read the full story.

New Cheap 3-D Printers from XYZprinting

For less than $300, you can now buy a capable and beginner-friendly 3-D printer. There are solid models from Monoprice that cost even less, but XYZprinting has 3-D printers for kids and beginners that will look better in your workspace. The cheapest and smallest of the lot is the Da Vinci Nano, a $230 box slated to ship by the middle of the year. Read the full story.

Credit: XYZPrinting

For less than $300, you can now buy a capable and beginner-friendly 3-D printer. There are solid models from Monoprice that cost even less, but XYZprinting has 3-D printers for kids and beginners that will look better in your workspace. The cheapest and smallest of the lot is the Da Vinci Nano, a $230 box slated to ship by the middle of the year. Read the full story.

Samsung Chromebook Pro

Samsung’s Chromebook Plus and Pro are, on paper, the most well-rounded Chrome OS devices ever. The Plus starts at $450 and is available now, and the Pro will be $550 when it ships in March. Both fit right into the normal-person laptop budget. They do all the Chrome OS things, have great and flippy touchscreens, and they run all of the millions of apps in Google’s Play Store. Like we said, it sounds great… on paper. In reality, this brilliantly polymorphic computer still feels more like a science experiment. Read the full review.

Credit: Samsung

Samsung’s Chromebook Plus and Pro are, on paper, the most well-rounded Chrome OS devices ever. The Plus starts at $450 and is available now, and the Pro will be $550 when it ships in March. Both fit right into the normal-person laptop budget. They do all the Chrome OS things, have great and flippy touchscreens, and they run all of the millions of apps in Google’s Play Store. Like we said, it sounds great… on paper. In reality, this brilliantly polymorphic computer still feels more like a science experiment. Read the full review.

LG Watch Style and Sport

Android Wear 2.0, Google’s first big update to its smartwatch platform since it launched in 2014, is all about milliseconds. The new software, coming to watches new and old, big and small, round and square, ugly and uglier, makes everything faster. To coincide with the launch, Google worked with LG on two new smartwatches, the Watch Sport and Watch Style. The Sport costs $349 and does all the smartwatch things and then some. The Style runs $249, does next to nothing, and looks good doing it. Read the full review.

Credit: LG

Android Wear 2.0, Google’s first big update to its smartwatch platform since it launched in 2014, is all about milliseconds. The new software, coming to watches new and old, big and small, round and square, ugly and uglier, makes everything faster. To coincide with the launch, Google worked with LG on two new smartwatches, the Watch Sport and Watch Style. The Sport costs $349 and does all the smartwatch things and then some. The Style runs $249, does next to nothing, and looks good doing it. Read the full review.

Moment Battery Photo Case

The newest smartphone accessory from Momentpulls double duty. It’s a high-capacity battery case, and it’s built to accept the company’s excellent lens attachments (and there’s a new wide-angle lens to snap into the case). The coolest part though? The thing’s got a new physical shutter button on it—one that uses the Lightning connector, making it much faster than the older Moment case’s Bluetooth button. You also get DSLR-type actions with the button when you take photos within Moment’s app: A half press resets focus and exposure, a full press snaps a photo, and a press-and-hold action fires a burst. Read the full story.

Credit: Moment

The newest smartphone accessory from Momentpulls double duty. It’s a high-capacity battery case, and it’s built to accept the company’s excellent lens attachments (and there’s a new wide-angle lens to snap into the case). The coolest part though? The thing’s got a new physical shutter button on it—one that uses the Lightning connector, making it much faster than the older Moment case’s Bluetooth button. You also get DSLR-type actions with the button when you take photos within Moment’s app: A half press resets focus and exposure, a full press snaps a photo, and a press-and-hold action fires a burst. Read the full story.

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer

Dyson, the brand behind those pricey, highly engineered vacuums and fans, has taken a stab at this essential post-shower tool. The Supersonic hair dryer reinvigorates an underserved category with a masterpiece of efficiency that blows away the competition. Read the full review.

Credit: JOSEPH SHIN FOR WIRED

Dyson, the brand behind those pricey, highly engineered vacuums and fans, has taken a stab at this essential post-shower tool. The Supersonic hair dryer reinvigorates an underserved category with a masterpiece of efficiency that blows away the competition. Read the full review.

Beoplay H4 Wireless Headphones

A couple of years ago, the luxurious leather-wrapped Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H7s were named our favorite Bluetooth headphones. The problem, if anything, was the price. At $400, the H7s weren’t the cheapest options by any means. And while the new $300 Beoplay H4s aren’t exactly bargain-bin cans either, they offer nearly the same roster of specs as the H7s for $100 less. Read the full story.

Credit: BANG & OLUFSEN

A couple of years ago, the luxurious leather-wrapped Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H7s were named our favorite Bluetooth headphones. The problem, if anything, was the price. At $400, the H7s weren’t the cheapest options by any means. And while the new $300 Beoplay H4s aren’t exactly bargain-bin cans either, they offer nearly the same roster of specs as the H7s for $100 less. Read the full story.

Hello Barbie Hologram

Mattel introduced the first Barbie doll way back in 1959, and she’s found herself at the center of culture (and cultural controversy) ever since. To her credit, she keeps adapting to the times. Her latest incarnation is Hello Barbie Hologram, a small box containing an animated projection of Barbie that responds to voice commands. It combines motion-capture animation with Amazon Echo-style voice interactions, and it arrives in stores later this year. Read the full story.

Credit: Mattel

Mattel introduced the first Barbie doll way back in 1959, and she’s found herself at the center of culture (and cultural controversy) ever since. To her credit, she keeps adapting to the times. Her latest incarnation is Hello Barbie Hologram, a small box containing an animated projection of Barbie that responds to voice commands. It combines motion-capture animation with Amazon Echo-style voice interactions, and it arrives in stores later this year. Read the full story.